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I thought the Europeans had been at each other's throats for around three hundred years. In Jared Diamond's book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Soc
by NAFV_P 13y ago
I thought the Europeans had been at each other's throats for around three hundred years.
In Jared Diamond's book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, he argues that the technological innovations of Europe during the enlightenment were partially due to intense competition and wars. He compared it to China, which by 1350 was highly advanced, but had a more homogeneous political structure, suggesting less competition.
- mcv 13y ago> I thought the Europeans had been at each other's throats for around three hundred years. Three hundred? More like two thousand. In the late middle ages a war could last 30, 80 or 114 years. There was always some sort of armed conflict somewhere in Europe. The peace we've seen post-WW2 is pretty unique.
- NAFV_P 13y ago> Three hundred? More like two thousand. Yeah, bang on. > The peace we've seen post-WW2 is pretty unique. I had a look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conflicts_in_Europe#1st.E2.80.9310th_century_AD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conflicts_in_Europe#1st... It looks like it never stopped. I counted 101 conflicts since 1900 up to the present day, I'm currently counting for the previous centuries. 19th - 51 18th - 42 17th - 41 16th - 59 15th - 59 ... I've lost count.